App.net, the anti-Twitter, to pay out $20K to developers each month

Two months into an experiment that caters to the ideals of developers and consumers alike, the social platform App.net has revealed the particulars of how it plans to create incentives for the creation of top-notch applications.

App.net is a social network and framework that borrows the concept of the status update but uses it for good, its creator Dalton Caldwell claims. On App.net, people pay an annual fee of $50 for the right to post, and developers purchase the rights to create apps. App.net encourages both audiences to cultivate networks and experiences free of the ravaging effects of noisy, data-hungry advertisers. The philosophy is in direct opposition to the ad-based, occasionally developer-hostile models employed Twitter and Facebook.

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“We have spent a lot of time thinking about how to create a system that actually incents the creation of innovative, imaginative, and useful apps,” Caldwell said in a blog post. “With this in mind, we are implementing a system that is driven by direct feedback from members.”

The program, which commences October 1, will include an email survey sent to users each month. The survey will ask users to rate each of the applications they use, and App.net will use the ratings to generate a score for each app. An application’s score will also factor in usage statistics.

Participation in the program is optional for developers, but those that opt-in will be eligible for a percentage of the incentive pool should they score high enough.

“By way of example and not in limitation of the foregoing, if the combined score for all Applications in the Incentive Program is 100, the Incentive Payment for an Approved Developer with an Application score of 10 would equal $2,000 (or, 10/100 x $20,000),” the program documentation explains.

Caldwell, who would did not share the number of active App.net users, highlighted the early success of the platform and cited the growing collection of applications, in statement made to VentureBeat.

“Having a great suite of apps is our biggest priority,” he said. “That is why we are doing this initiative.”